Getting our healthy on, one day at a time.

Tag Archives: clean eating

We’ve been dealing with some sickness in our camp. I’ve had to turn to antibiotics, which I detest. However, when dealing with a chest and sinus infection I don’t want to mess with it.

What I can do is look after myself, along with my husband who is the recipient and now carrier of my germs. Let’s just say I’m not so popular with my husband at the moment. My current nickname: “the infector”. Nice.

In addition to eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, I decided to make bone broth last night. Bone broth is a source of goodness and a well known gut healer.

The method?

First up I roasted a chicken and vegetables for dinner and we had a good old fashioned roast dinner. Very good! Homemade gravy and all. My grandmother would make Sunday roasts and I would watch her as a child. I just did what I remembered and it worked! So easy I don’t know why I haven’t done this before!

Secondly I simmered the chicken carcass in 5.5 litres of water in my dutch oven, along with celery, onion, garlic and carrots. I added 2x TBS of apple cider vinegar to draw out the nutrients from the carcass. Towards the end I added fresh rosemary and thyme. I didn’t salt the stock, this can be done when I use it for cooking.

Bone broth simmering away

4 hours later and I had a great stock. Ideally I would cook this for 8 hours, or up to 24 hours in my slow cooker. Alas, I did it on the stovetop and had to go to bed!

The chicken was $10. Including another couple of chicken breasts, organic vegetables and herbs, for $25 I got 5 liters of bone broth, a batch of soup (6-8 servings) and three nights worth of roast dinner for two people. Not bad at all!

Verdict: I would do this again, although it was a lot of work. I did enjoy it and found the process to be quite therapeutic. Plus now I have homemade bone broth on hand!

After a long day in the office I enjoy getting home and cooking. I still don’t enjoy cooking dinner for the evening. I enjoy preparing snacks and baking.

Last night I finally made Sarah Wilson’s Leftover Veggie Bread which is Paleo and very healthy! It does have buckwheat in it which not everyone classes as true “Paleo”. I have been craving carbs and decided this bread would be a good fix.

After reading comments about the bread being too moist I decided to squeeze all the water out of the zucchini. I used the two zucchinis mentioned in the recipe. Also some of the water out of the grated carrots using a clean dish towel. This worked perfectly and the bread was moist, but not undercooked or too moist. I chose to use the 1 TBS of rice malt syrup. I used pumpkin in the recipe (not sweet potato) so figured the little bit of sweetness would be nice. That worked out well. The bread doesn’t taste sweet at all, even with the TBS of rice malt syrup. So I will include it again when I make it next time. And there will be a next time!

I highly recommend this bread. Its filling and a healthy snack or breakfast. I had a slice this morning, unheated, with quarter avocado. Wonderful!

As of today I have been eating grain free for one week and sugar free for 7 weeks. This is all due to Rinsky’s persistence with me. For whatever reason I took it on board and went with it. I can’t imagine going back now. I anticipate adding back some grains into my diet like quinoa and brown rice – but keeping it at one serving a day. I do miss a diet heavier in carbohydrates. But for now its ok as long as I carefully plan it all out. I have been making snacks like Sarah Wilson’s Paleo Bread and I tried some Broccoli Pancakes the other day. The first recipe I used was just “ok”. It used coconut flour with eggs for binding. The pancakes fell apart, but they tasted really good and proved to be a very good snack at work. Next time I will try this recipe instead and see how it goes:- Broccoli Fritters

So last night I got home at 10pm and made these paleo Zucchini Fritters and they turned out exceptionally well! Super tasty. The key is squeezing out as much liquid as possible from the zucchinis:- Paleo Zucchini Fritters

Along with them I made some fresh homemade salsa to have with, although they are also great on their own.

Sorry for the poor quality photo! They taste a lot better than my photo suggests!

Sometimes it’s the simple things. I love a good baked potato. Today I had a bake potato for lunch and topped it with cheese, sour cream and green onions. Together with a garden salad it was filling, nutritious and delicious. One of my favourite quick and easy meals.